Psychometric properties of the SCOFF questionnaire (Chinese version) for screening eating disorders in Hong Kong secondary school students: a cross-sectional study.
BACKGROUND
Eating disorders are affecting an increasing number of high school students in Western and Asian countries. The availability of an effective screening tool is crucial for early detection and prompt intervention.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the SCOFF questionnaire for screening eating disorders in Hong Kong high school students.


METHODS
This study adopted a cross-sectional design to examine the psychometric properties of the SCOFF questionnaire.


METHODS
A panel of 7 experts and 936 students of a high school participated in the study.


METHODS
The SCOFF questionnaire was translated into Chinese and back-translated into English to ensure the linguistic equivalence. A panel of 7 experts involved in the content validation of the SCOFF questionnaire. The Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) was used as the "reference standard" to assess its concurrent validity in 936 students of a high school. Its reliability was examined by internal consistency and the test-retest method at a 2-week interval and with 38 students.


RESULTS
The SCOFF questionnaire achieved an agreement of 86-100% among the experts for the content relevance. Of 812 students (86.8%) who responded to this study, their SCOFF scores correlated significantly with their global scores on the EDE-Q (r=0.5, P<0.01). Students identified as potentially having eating disorders had significantly higher scores in the EDE-Q than those not identified as such by SCOFF. The SCOFF questionnaire demonstrated moderate test-retest reliability (ICC=0.66) and an acceptable internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.44-0.57) in comparing with previous studies.


CONCLUSIONS
The SCOFF questionnaire has acceptable psychometric properties in the Chinese culture. It will be useful for detecting potential eating disorders and assisting health promotion activity.
Leung
Sau Fong
SF
School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR. hsfong@inet.polyu.edu.hk
Lee
Ka Li
KL
Lee
Sze Man
SM
Leung
Sik Chi
SC
Hung
Wing Sze
WS
Lee
Wai Leng
WL
Leung
Yuen Yee
YY
Li
Man Wai
MW
Tse
Tak Kin
TK
Wong
Hoi Kei
HK
Wong
Yuen Ni
YN
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires